Social analytics alone are no longer enough to make a tool useful, so Agorapulse includes two key integrations: publishing and CRM. Evergreen content scheduling is a plus, as is automatic identification of influencers and brand ambassadors. Social monitoring lets you engage in real time, and handle customer service issues just as quickly – i.e., before they can fester. A collaborative workflow rounds out the tool.

There’s a lot you can manage with Brand24 on the social front. Track mentions so you’re ready to interact, monitor discussion volume to spot changes in sentiment both good and bad, and use the Influence Score to identify people worth working with to get your brand name out there. The platform integrates with Slack for easy workflow management within your team.

Similar to Hootsuite (below), Buffer is primarily a scheduling tool offering analytics on the posts you share – which is handy, if limited. You can discover which posts are working and not working, but discerning why is tricky and reliant on trial and error. Still, it’s a great tool for SMBs, and there are some nice integrations on the scheduling front, like a social calendar, video and GIF uploader, Pablo Image Creator, and more. Between the browser extension and mobile app, you can manage social engagement from anywhere quite simply, but growing businesses will need more comprehensive analytics down the line.

Great for: Managing social engagement across small teams

Lacking: Sentiment analysis and broader social analytics ability

Price: Starts at $99 for plans with social analytics and other features listed above

The days of data analysts running the show are over with simpler tools opening up analytics to your entire team. Crowdbooster takes workflow collaboration a step further by letting you offer report access to clients as well. Social insights and scheduling tools are integrated nicely here, though limited to Twitter and Facebook. Still, audience growth tracking, and influencer identification are on-point features – and the action recommendations are a bonus for those new to applying social insights.

On one hand, Salesforce has a number of products that zero in on specific business problems – but cobbling them together gets pricey. Their best all-in-one is Einstein Analytics, which presents data in pre-built dashboards and apps so you can make informed decisions about appropriate actions to take across your business – from sales, service, and marketing, to HR, and IT. Their mobile-first design is decidedly current, and you can even view insights on your Apple Watch.

Great for: Data-driven decision making across your brand

Lacking: Platform is AI driven, which can be limiting and/or unpredictable

Hootsuite started as a scheduling platform, which evolved to include analytics which have become more robust over time. They now offer a variety of plans for businesses of all sizes, but enterprises get the most options for integration beyond the scheduling feature. With access to more than 150 free, paid and premium apps – like MailChimp and Dropbox – there are plenty of integration options available, but it’s not a perfect program.

The NetBase Open API enables brands and agencies to securely integrate social analytics data inclusive of analyses and metrics into any dashboard, business intelligence system, engagement platform, or CRM system and to enable social to work for your business. Visual dashboards can be customized for the perfect view, and analytics are easily shared across your brand – so all aspects of your business can craft strategy based on accurate insights. With state of the art Natural Language Processing, advanced sentiment analysis, image recognition, and more, NetBase offers top notch and precise data from social media and other online sources to drive all brand activities.

Oktopost’s strength is in tracking how social activities directly impact your sales funnel, with a focus on content and audience analytics, social engagement, and lead generation. Their data is exportable to any BI platform, so everyone can access the insights they need. Automated publishing options let you keep your focus on sourcing content instead of scheduling it.

Not all social media tools are designed to integrate with others, but some, like Sendible, have a host of features built in. Sendible’s social analytics offer a decent cross-section of social channels like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as well as Google Analytics to understand how consumer behaviors impact website traffic and more. Their publishing platform offers recommendations on content that’s likely to generate engagement, and integrations with Google Image, Flickr and Canva make adding visuals a breeze. Their included CRM streamlines lead generation and managing consumer issues, and it’s easy to collaborate across your team.

The basic checklist is here for social platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+ and LinkedIn: hashtags, keywords, influencers, and sentiment. The workflow allows for integration of all social messages into a single inbox, accessible across your team. Integrated CRM functions give Sales, Customer Care, and Marketing access to the data they need, and publishing is also a built-in feature. Other integrations include Bitly, Google Analytics, Feedly and more.

Great for: Seamless, social data-driven task sharing across your brand

All the big asks are covered with this enterprise-level platform. Geolocation helps you target your data mining by country and city, while audience segmenting allows for more precise insights about consumers. Sentiment analysis, competitive analysis, and crisis alerts are also part of the offerings. Integrations with popular tools like Salesforce and Spredfast make managing CRM and ERP alongside your social analytics a snap.

What’s unique about Talkwalker is its assimilation of print and TV/radio content into its online and social data platform. That’s a great feature, along with image recognition and Artificial Intelligence modalities, but their predefined use case dashboards may limit accuracy if they can’t be customized. And while you can’t integrate with external CRM tools, you can pull in data from other sources, so anything from sales figures to the weather can be analyzed against social insights. And you can export data to be used with other business intelligence tools.

Zoho makes collaboration with your team hassle-free, while offering access to features that matter. Schedule and share social posts easily, monitor brand mentions and conversations by keyword, respond to messages, and pull social data into your CRM platform to empower your sales force. Visual reports simplify deciphering of social data, leaving you more time to craft strategy.

Great for: Customer service, sales, and sourcing influencers

Lacking: API/third-party integration ability

Price: Starts at $8.33/month, billed annually, for small teams, up to $125/month, billed annually, for larger.

More is more for brand success

The size of your brand may dictate the tools you choose, but however that shakes out, tools that do more are better than tools of the one-trick-pony variety. The more your social analytics software can play well with others, the more you can accomplish for your brand – with less effort.

That’s major – and worth the extra spend if it comes to it. Sometimes you do get what you pay for – so be sure you’re not paying for “less.”

Think you know NetBase? Get in touch and we’ll show you all you never knew our social analytics tools can do!

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About NetBase

NetBase is an award-winning social media analytics platform that global companies use to run brands, build businesses, and connect with consumers every second. NetBase platform processes millions of social media posts daily for actionable business insights for marketing research, customer service, sales, PR, and product innovation.